Battle Tactics
When playing Naval Craft, Battle Tactics are an essential part of gameplay. Superior tactics will often bring a player victory in battle, even against a more powerful opponent. Here we will discuss various tactics, from basic maneuvers to complex multi-ship strategy. Basic Maneuvers These are basic combat maneuvers: Feel free to edit. Crossing the T Crossing the T is a maneuver where one vessel crosses the path of another vessel perpendicularly, bringing the full broadside to bear on the opponent. This maneuver has the advantage that it maximizes the offensive power of the player's ship, while limiting the opponent's ship's to only their forward weapons. Running alongside As one fleet turns to cross the T, the other turns in the same direction, and runs parallel. In this Maneuver, the second fleet avoids being crossed, and can pound the enemy with its full broadside. the principal disadvantage of this is that the second fleet is also vulnerable to the entire broadside of the enemy fleet. It is recommended to do this only if you feel that you can do more damage to your opponent, than he can you. Smashing the head As two fleets run alongside one another, the faster fleet can get ahead, and its lead ship can turn into the enemy fleet. This leads to crossing the enemy on two sides, preventing him from countering by running alongside the lead ship. This maneuver, is useful to decisively end an engagement. Running opposed As one fleet turns to cross the others T the second fleet turns opposite the first, causing the two fleets to run from each other. In situations where it is Unlikely that the second fleet could win, if it ran alongside, one could run opposed to jockey for a better position. In this situation, neither fleet is capable of doing any decisive damage to the other. Reversal as one fleet turns to cross the others T the second fleet turns to run opposed, than immediately turns 90* in the opposite direction in order to effectively cross the enemy T behind its back, As most ships have increased forward firepower, this is more effective than simply crossing the enemy. Roles of Ships Ships are classified based on size, speed, protection, armaments, and a number of other factors. Due to this, ships are capable of different roles, both in real life and in the game. generally speaking, a ship is best at destroying the next class below itself in terms of size protection and firepower. fast boats/frigates The smallest class of boats in the game, these ships are scantily armed and armored, but are fast and nimble on the open sea. Of all ships they are the most difficult to hit, but when hit it is usually fatal. Destroyers Destroyers are small ships, but are large enough to hold a small number of guns, and some lighter armor. they are excellent as anti fast boat ships due to rapid firing guns and good speed. They are often armed with Torpedoes. Cruisers Cruisers are a "middle of the road" warship, they offer speed, and agility, alongside reasonable firepower and armor. Cruisers are often either "heavy" or "Light" which slightly changes the combat role, cruisers are destroyer hunters, but are also very versatile platforms capable of "anti carrier" and ASW roles. Battle cruisers battle cruisers are armed as battleships, but lack the armor to take serious hits. in exchange, they have superior speed. because of these traits, they are easy to "cross the T" with as they outrun most battleships. These warships are adept cruiser hunters. Battle cruisers are like an in-law, they can dish it out, but certainly can't take it. Fast Battleships These are faster than battleships, but (in theory) similarly armored and armed. they perform like Battle cruisers, but can actually take hits from opposing battleships. Battleships The big bad wolf as it were of naval combat. Battleships are slow and cumbersome on the water, but can both dish and take severe damage, Battleships form the backbone of many navies. Carriers large and weakly armored, carriers would seem to be irrelevant to the game, but they have infinite strike range, and so can attack with impunity or distract/disorient an enemy. The carriers job is to retreat. Submarines Subs turn the game on its head, as they are the only ships that are immune to most carriers, and are capable of killing with impunity from close range. Subs are most capable at hunting large slow targets, like battleships, and find the greatest trouble hunting destroyers (which often have depth charges) Picking a team: Fleet composition is incredibly important as it will determine weather you can win a particular battle. when choosing a team there are many things to consider, ASW capability for instance will be important if you run into a Sub, on the other hand, having lots of big battleships would help if the enemy brings three cruisers. the most prudent thing to do is to bring a balanced fleet with the ability to fight almost any threat. if you feel your surface ships can handle any enemy battleships, you could run two battleships and a Sub hunter, if not, consider a Sub. Category:Game Related Category:Guides